Wire key for plaster and means to secure same to plaster board



Sept. 20, 1932. .1. s. RAYNOR 1,873,130

WIRE KEY FOR PLASTER AND MEANS T0 SECURE SAME TO PLASTER BOARD Filed June 2. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a /ax 5, 54

Sept. 20, 1932. V J. 5. RAYNOR ,3

WIRE KEY FOR PLASTER AND MEANS TO SECURE SAME T0 PLASTER BOARD Filed June 2, 1927 2 sheets-Sheet 2 LNZ TOR 61% 5.126

Patented Sept. 20, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .l

JOHN S. RAYNOR, 'OEF' PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 1 WIRE KEY FOR PLASTER AND MEANS 'ro SECURE sAMETo PLASTER BOARD Application filed me 2, 1927 Serial K051953465 My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a wire key for plaster and means to secure the same to plaster board, and has for its primary object to fix wires of any 6 shape and of any arrangement to the surface or surfaces of plaster board or other stilf base element supporting means, commonly'called compo board, beaver board, etc., to offer a bed for receiving and holding the troweled 10 applied plaster against the stiff Y supporting element. 1 I 8 Another object of the invention is to provide a key on a stifi supporting memberfor applied plaster which will be embedded in said plaster after the work has been completed. j

A further object of the invention is to provide a sure and safe method of holding the applied plaster to a stifi supporting member thereby eliminating the possibility of "said plaster falling ofl, even though-cracked.

Plaster boards as now made and offered to the trade generally have a paper wrapper encasing the entire mass of base or-corematerials. The said base or core materlals generally being made of wood fibre and presenting a felt-like appearance, and thlS paper wrapper or surface of the board offers the only key or grip for holding the apphed plaster.

The manufacturers of this board specify that hard wall or gypsum quick-setting plaster must be used to cover the evening-up coat, as the sand .that enters into the mix of the applied plaster must be obtained at a point near where the work is being done; This sand at different places throughout the country has more or lessloam in its body, and this loam when worked into hard'wall orquick-setti-n'g gypsum plaster doesnot give the same result as will a clean sharp sandJ-Such'a'plaster mixture is commonly called a poor-mix or short mix. A poor or short mix will not adhere to the wood fibre surface with the intended grip;

The'disadvantages above enumerated are "entirely overcome when wire keys" of such forms as herein described are fixed to the 550 surfaces of the stiff supporting element, and

willprevent the plaster from leaving theibed base, r c From experience and from the study of work from which the applied plaster has fallen, I have learned that thebed or surface 'to which the applied plaster was intended to adhere changes its condition or contour during the drying period.-' Thesubstancejof the supporting member including wo odior an an'alogou's material in its make-upswells or expands when wetted bythe application 'offlthe first coat of plaster. This has been noted under a strong magnifying glass, and

the movement or swelling of the supporting element is clearly visible when a glass magfnifying 250 times is used. -.This swellingor expansion which increases the thickness'fof the. supporting member remains for arconsiderable length of time, often lasting for many daysafter the applied plaster has finally set.- It is well known that quick-setting or hard wall plaster,- will set within twohours in fair weather. Duringthis setting period the applied plaster will hold its positionnntil hard, but the supporting element on which it has been trowele'd being of a wood, b'as'e or having a wood substance in its make-up begins to swell or expand and pushes the setting plaster outward, then as the supporting'ineinber begins to dry out, it again contracts, leaving the plaster and forming a space or void between the surface of thesupporting'member and said plaster. f This: plaster is now: unsupported except where it rests upona floor and Where it. may connect with a ceiling, so that very little jarring tends to crack it, and finally causes it to leave the larger body and fall away. P The breaking of-the adhesive tendency o'fthe plaster on the supporting member' and the formation of the void or airspace leaves the plaster as though hanginglinthe air, and it must and'will break away and fall.

Another feature of my jinventionliszthat any kind of plaster can ,be' applied" to the base, some of these plasters being made fro'm lime mortar, slow setting Vlime'ofhydr ated nature, and the like. Any of these can be applied because I do not depend, upon the paper surface of'the plaster board base for such wire.

adhesion of the two bodies. By securing the Wire key with devices which pass entirely through the base or plaster board, there is no possible chance of the keys leaving the board or moving from the position in which they are mounted, except the entire board be moved.

A very important feature of my invention is the arrangement which permits a workman to fasten the plaster board to wood joist or wood studding without-breaking the surfaceor possibly driving the nail entirely through the plaster board. Up to this day, a workman must be exceedingly skilled in the use of a hammer or hatchet so that the head of the nail .will not be driven any further than just to the surface of the plaster board, and said nail must be driven absolutely straight and even, or it will cut into the plasterboard,

and thus cause said board to fall when wetted by an application of the first coat of plaster.

With my invention the nail may be placed are held with the fastening devices, so that when driven home, the head will rest upon In fact it has been found that thenail may be driven in only part way, and then bent over the wire without in any way affecting the supporting quality thereof. :method of securing or fastening a safe and My invention provides a substantial sure key for applied plaster to a plaster board For supporting member of stiff material.

It might be well to mention at this time thatthe key produced by my invention also acts as a reinforcement for the plaster, holding it in place during the drying period and adding strength to the finished wall.

'One way in. which this invention may be carried out is to provide a gang row' of stapling or stitching machines spaced at suitable intervals dependent upon the kind of keyand reinforcing desired. By the kind of key and reinforcing desired I mean that for 'ceiling and other overhead work such as spandrel angle surfaces where the plaster is inconstant downward pull and totally dependent upon adhesive friction between the plaster andthe paper or other casingof the plaster board, I place the primary wires closer together and sometimes use wire screening of closer mesh than when the device 'to'be used for vertical Work. Wherever wire screening is referred to, itis to be understood thatit covers poultry wire, expanded metal, screening such as used on cellar w ndows or "other foraminou's metal structures.

The sheet of plaster board or other stiff supporting member is inserted in thesta- 'pling or stitching machines with the selected wires, either primary or secondary wires, located against both faces of the plaster board with the primary wires on one face directly above those on the other face, so that as the staples. or stitches are inserted. they will pass other form of my invention.

about the oppositely disposed primary wires. WVhere staples such as herein illustrated are used, they are driven through the plaster board with the legs straddling the Wires, and when clinched the ends return back into the plaster board on opposite sides of the wire on the reverse face of the plaster board.

Where the'primary wires are used by themselves and, if desirable, when such wires used with other or secondary wires, said primary wires may have slack portions between the points of fastening to give the proper space betweenthe wires and the paper or casing on the plaster board for the desired key.

With these and other ends in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combinationof elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims. 7 Q

In order that those skilled in the art to. which this invention appertains, may under stand. how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction in detail, referring by numerals to the acompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which Fig. 1, is a perspective view of a plaster board showing my improvements applied thereto with a portion of said board broken away to illustrate a detail'of construction.

Fig. 2, is aview similar to Fig. 1, of a modified form of the invention. v

Fig. 3, is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4, is a perspective view of still an- Fig. 5', likewise, is a perspective View of a further modification. I

Fig. 6, is a fragmentary sectional view of i the plaster board with the reinforcing key showing the manner in which it may be secured by nails to studding;

' In carrying out my invention as embodied in Fig. 1, 7 represents a plaster board of any suitable dimensions and constructed of the usual materials in a well-known manner comprising a base or core 8 enclosed in a covering ofpaper 9 or an analogous material. On both faces of the plaster board are placed substantially parallelwires 10 and 11, which are fastened in place by stitching or staples 12 'driven through the plaster board, so as to straddle both wires, with the ends of the :staplelegs clinched or bent back so that said ends passover op osite sides of thewire on the reverse side-o the plaster board and re-' turninto said plaster board, as plainly shown in-Fig. 2, where-only single strands of wire are used as shown in Fig. -1, the portions between the fastening points or staples are bent out of the straight line, either sidewise or directly outward from the faces of theplaster board to leave. a certain amount of slack in the form of bows which provide for the necessary space to produce plaster to be applied.

proper keys for the apparent when heavy bodies of plaster are to While there is only one set of wires in Fig. 1, I desire to call them primary wires in order to differentiate from other wires or elements to be presently described, which other elements are used in connection with these wires under certain conditions.

In Fig. 2, I have shown a plurality of secondary wires 14 and 15, located on opposite faces of the plaster board or supporting element 7, and said secondary wires are preferably arranged transversely of the supporting structure and held in place by the primary wires 10 and 11, which are secured to the plaster board by the stitches or staples 12, the same as described in connection with the form shown in Fig. 1. In the form illustrated in Fig. 2, the slack or bows are left out of the primary wires, because the secondary wire inserted between said primary Wires and the faces of the plaster board space the primary wires to give them the desired key.

Fig. 4 shows secondary elements 16 and 17 of still different form and represents wire screening of rather small mesh, such as used in cellar windows or for expanded metal lathing. These secondary elements are held in place by the primary wires 10 and 11 superimposed thereon with the primary wires fastened by the stitching or staples 12, as before described.

Fig. 5, shows a structure somewhat similar to Fig. 4, with the exception that the secondary elements 18 and 19 are in the form of poultry wire, but like the other secondary elements are held in place by the primary wires, which in turn are fixed to the plaster board by the stitches or staples 12.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a section of plaster board having my invention applied thereto, secured to a stud 20 by a nail 21, which passes through the plaster board in the usual manner, but the head rests upon one of the primary wires and is thus prevented from entering the plaster board or breaking its surface, and because of the extended bearing of the primary wire on the plaster board, it cannot be pulled through the plaster board, and therefore the latter will remain in place indefinitely, and it does not require the services of a skilled mechanic to carry out the nailing operations, since the head of the nail can never be driven into the plaster board so long as the nail is positioned beside a wire.

In actual practice, when the plaster board with my invention applied thereon are erected and the plaster applied thereto, the several wires will be embedded in the plaster and act as keys, as well as reinforcing for said plaster.

Now when the plaster board dries out, even though it shrinks and leaves the plaster, the latter cannot fall away because it is keyed to the wires, and the shrinking has no effect whatsoever upon the staying qualities.

The practicability of the invention is quite be used on both sides of the plaster board for a solid wall partition because the plaster will hold firmly and arch itself from one stitching or stapling point to another.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a sheet of material, key elements for plaster on opposite faces of said sheet, and staples passing through the sheet and positively engaging said key elements on the opposite faces of said sheet with the points of the staples bent back and embedded in the sheet of material to fasten the key elements on said sheet.

2. As an article of manufacture, a stiff supporting structure, key elements for plaster mounted on opposite faces of the supporting structure, and staples passing through the supporting structure and positively engaging juxtaposed key elements the ends of the staples being returned into the supporting structure. I

3. As an article of manufacture, a sheet of material, bowed wires located on opposite faces of the sheet of material with portions of said wires directly contacting with the faces of the sheet, and staples passing through the sheet and positively engaging those portions of the wires contacting therewith to fasten the wires to the sheet and the ends of the staples projected backward into the sheet of material.

4. As an article of manufacture, a sheet of imperforate stifi material, wires imposed on opposite faces of said sheet in juxtaposition and staples embracing a wire on one face of said sheet and passing through said sheet and bent over a Wire on the other face of said sheet, which wire is directly opposite the first mentioned one and the ends of said staples being projected into the sheet of material.

' In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

JOHN S. RAYNOR. 

